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Build stroker or Buy a pre build

Posted: June 13th, 2012, 7:55 pm
by donshaw
I have a 2000 wrangler and i'm thinking abt doing a 4.6 or 4.7

What is the cheapest and best way to accomplish this? Build or Buy?

If building is the best way will someone share their build list with me and the expense? :deadhorse:

Thx Guys!!

Re: Build stroker or Buy a pre build

Posted: June 13th, 2012, 9:18 pm
by Retlaw01XJ
donshaw wrote: What is the cheapest and best way to accomplish this? Build or Buy?
Well, first decide if you want the CHEAPEST way OR the BEST way! :lol:
You can throw a junkyard crank in a worn engine and do it cheap.....
Or you can spend the bucks to renew everything and use hi-po parts to build a GOOD engine!

Here's a good thread about what it costs:
http://www.jeepstrokers.com/forum/viewt ... f=15&t=893
The majority of the builds here have been around the $2500 mark.
If your engine parts are in good condition and you can do much of the assembly yourself, you should be able to hit near that budget.
A pre-built stroker is likely to cost more.

Re: Build stroker or Buy a pre build

Posted: June 14th, 2012, 1:47 pm
by Cheromaniac
Retlaw01XJ wrote:A pre-built stroker is likely to cost more.
Make that much more. A Golen 4.6 stroker long block costs $3600-4000.

http://www.golenengineservice.com/docum ... p%20LB.pdf

Re: Build stroker or Buy a pre build

Posted: June 15th, 2012, 4:20 am
by dwg86
If you build your own, don't go cheap. Do some research/reading, and find out what has been working or not working... learn from others mistakes or successes. Use quality parts and match them...example - cam profile to compression ratio, valve springs to cam ect. Going too cheap can cost more in the end.

Re: Build stroker or Buy a pre build

Posted: June 15th, 2012, 5:36 am
by jsawduste
There is right and there is cheap. You can have one or the other.

Pre built, Hescp wins hands down.

I honestly have over 5,000 in mine. 7120 head not an Hesco aluminum one.

Took the extra steps in machining, cleaning, balancing and the best parts I could buy. Details like chamefer-ing the cam bearings. Smoothing oil passages, valve spring pressures to name just a few.

It runs well and I expect that it will run for a long, long time.

Cheap ? No. Effective ? Yes.

Re: Build stroker or Buy a pre build

Posted: June 15th, 2012, 5:40 am
by Cheromaniac
donshaw wrote:If building is the best way will someone share their build list with me and the expense?
Check out the stroker build link in my sig. I built my stroker 8 years ago and the site has a page with a full parts list and the costs. Keep in mind that prices have increased since then so you won't be able to build yours as cheaply as I did, but you should still be able to stay under $2500 especially if you choose my modified "poor man's" recipe.
I strongly advise that you get rid of your '00 head though (they're prone to crack in the middle) and either replace it with a junkyard '03+ head that has TUPY stamped on the top, or buy a reinforced head from Alabama Cylinder Heads.
If you decide to buy pre-built, there's only one that I can strongly recommend and that's Hesco. It might cost more than your Jeep is worth but it'll be bombproof so the choice is yours.

Re: Build stroker or Buy a pre build

Posted: June 15th, 2012, 5:42 am
by SilverXJ
If you want prebuilt Hesco, ATK and Golen are good ones that come to mind. There are a few smaller companies around that build strokers, but don't buy anything cheap thinking its a quality piece.

Re: Build stroker or Buy a pre build

Posted: June 15th, 2012, 6:59 am
by dwg86
Titan doesn't have a good reputation for a prebuild stroker.

Re: Build stroker or Buy a pre build

Posted: June 15th, 2012, 7:06 am
by donshaw
1) what about the titian kits?? 1999 with just about everything I could think of....

2) how bad are the 2000 heads about cracking?

Re: Build stroker or Buy a pre build

Posted: June 15th, 2012, 8:09 am
by donshaw
.....And I want a build that will run on 87-89 octane

Re: Build stroker or Buy a pre build

Posted: June 16th, 2012, 11:04 am
by Cheromaniac
donshaw wrote:how bad are the 2000 heads about cracking?
The cracking problem on the '00-'01 heads was bad enough that Chrysler should have issued a recall and rectified it by replacing those heads with the later reinforced 0331 castings that have TUPY stamped on the top. They didn't and that left a lot of Jeepers pissed off. This is just a small sample:

http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/forums/sh ... p?t=391831

Re: Build stroker or Buy a pre build

Posted: June 16th, 2012, 4:17 pm
by SilverXJ
There is a lot of things Chrysler should have done a recall on. The 0331 head, blend doors on the WJ, 42RE transmissions, etc.

Re: Build stroker or Buy a pre build

Posted: June 17th, 2012, 7:02 am
by donshaw
So would it be ok to stroke my motor and putthe stock non rebuilt head on it?

Re: Build stroker or Buy a pre build

Posted: June 18th, 2012, 6:09 am
by Cheromaniac
donshaw wrote:So would it be ok to stroke my motor and put the stock non rebuilt head on it?
OK to stroke the motor but if you want to reuse your '00 head, be aware of the risk of it cracking in the future.

Re: Build stroker or Buy a pre build

Posted: June 18th, 2012, 9:46 pm
by donshaw
Cheromaniac wrote:
donshaw wrote:So would it be ok to stroke my motor and put the stock non rebuilt head on it?
OK to stroke the motor but if you want to reuse your '00 head, be aware of the risk of it cracking in the future.
Titan has a 4.6 kit out in eBay that is $1999 and it claims to have " everything "

Do you know much about the kit and if it's a good deal or not?

Thx again